


Morning blues

by Pomodoridori



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Gen, aaand ichirou is mentioned but not rlly present, also theres a lot of sleep, and theres referenced past torture, for everyone, kevin moves on, neil is tired of this shit, riko has a Bad Time, theres gang violence but its implied/not really there, wymack is concerned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 14:34:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11922945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pomodoridori/pseuds/Pomodoridori
Summary: Riko is sent as a reminder to neil, kevin, and andrew. kevin copes with it better than expected.





	Morning blues

**Author's Note:**

> It's sad that I have to put this disclaimer on here, but since the AFTG fandom is being shitty, here: this is not kevin/riko. Also, feel free to question my characterization of riko/others, and i will gladly explain. :) I might not be very nice when I do it, though. depends on whether or not you are being an asshole. :)))))
> 
> Please enjoy, but don't take this too seriously.

Riko Moriyama sleeps with his back to the wall and a knife beneath his pillow. He’s the lightest sleeper Kevin has ever known—except Andrew. Andrew would always wake at the slightest creak in the floor.

            When he was little, before his mom died, Kevin’d watch Riko sleep when they had sleepovers. Not in a creepy way, just…innocently. For all his talk of being number one, Riko’d always crash first. Kevin used to have contests with him, where they’d stay up late and whoever fell asleep first would lose, and Kevin’d always win. By twelve Riko was solidly asleep, curled up on the couch where they’d been watching a documentary. But Riko would always wake up first, and elbow Kevin until he’d woken up (on more than one occasion, Kevin recalls with a small sad smile, Riko had to physically shove him off the couch to wake him. When Neil looks at him suspiciously and demands,  _“What?”_ , Kevin just says,  _“You look stupid, again.”_ ).

            Riko  _always_  woke first.

But Riko was gone now, shot and dead and buried. For Kevin, it was a relief.  _He’s finally in a place where he can’t hurt me any more._  And yet, and yet—it was all Kevin could do to keep the grief tucked into a corner of his heart most days. Because when he thought of Riko, he remembered Riko giggling, and smiling, and crying when the Master told him he was unwanted, worthless. He also remembered the day when Riko stopped crying altogether. He’d been twelve.

So when Kevin found him wrapped in a pile of bloody tarp at the Fox’s doorstep at five (he’d been off to an early practice with Andrew), he couldn’t breathe.

It was a bucket of ice water to his face. All Kevin knew was that the blood was draining from his face, and his stomach was twisting up in knots and  _why is he here he should be dead nonononONONO I THOUGHT IT WAS OVER AND NOW HE’S BACK TO_ —

            Kevin jerks out of his reverie when someone’s hand clamps down on his shoulder.

            “Kevin,” Neil says, loudly in his ear, “what’s—what the  _fuck_.” Neil’s voice went quiet and cold and angry. “Kevin,  _what the hell is this?_  Tell me before I kill him.”

            Kevin tries to tell him,  _I don’t know but he needs to leave right now I--,_  but it only comes out in a desperate squeak. And suddenly the grief is back in full force, seeing his face makes Kevin want to swallow his tongue, and then he really is choking on it, because suddenly he cannot breathe.

            Neil is pushing past him to kick Moriyama in the gut. “No,” Kevin wheezes, because  _he can’t do that, they’ll kill him if he does that—_

            But Neil is just rolling him over on his back, roughly, angrily, and growls, “He should be  _dead._ ”

            Kevin takes in another shuddering cold breath, and tries to speak, but his throat is closed up in the face of Riko’s sudden appearance.

            Then Dan is there, taking the steps three at once behind him. She gives a quiet gasp, and puts a gentle hand on Kevin’s shoulder, but pulls it away when he flinches. “I’ll call coach,” she says.

            Kevin is struggling between anger and guilt and terror, and it is all he can do to stay there and not run, so he sits. Riko’s still breathing (wetly), he notices.  _He shouldn’t be_ , Kevin thinks, before guilt hits him. Neil’s pacing with his fists clenched, and Kevin realizes that the only reason Neil hasn’t finished Riko off is that he can’t lose his position on the team, and that he can’t jeopardize himself in the Moriyama’s eyes.

            “Neil,” Kevin rasps, and Neil turns to glare at him with cold angry eyes (like his father, now, but Kevin will never say that to his face, not  _now_  of all times).

            “Neil,” Kevin repeats, “He was dead.  _He was dead_. They  _killed_ him.  _Why is he here right now?_ ”

            Neil’s eyes are shuttered and so cold Kevin almost flinches. “Compensation. His funeral was closed-casket, remember? They must have kept him alive for this. It’s a message, too. Nice and neat. Typical Moriyama.”

            Kevin closes his eyes, remembering. The funeral. Riko’s. Kevin’d been drunk and crying, and the casket’d been black lacquered wood. There was a haze of speeches—something from Tetsuji. It’d been empty, save for the fans staring hungrily at the building, standing there in a mob.  _They_  only got to say goodbye at his grave.

            Ichirou hadn’t bothered coming to the funeral, Kevin remembered. It was only Tetsuji, and the Ravens. Kevin stayed for five minutes and then left. He couldn’t bear it.

            Wymack’s arrival broke Kevin’s reverie. “What the hell?!” His father’s face was strained and gray with worry. He’d brought Abby. Dan was trailing back down the stairs, and Matt was there, rubbing at still-sleepy eyes, and Allison, whose face was molded into pure hatred. Renee and Nicky were there too, suddenly. Aaron and Andrew did not show up. Kevin knew they were already at the stadium, probably wondering  _where the hell he was_.

            Abby was bending down to look at Riko’s broken body, and said, quietly, “He’s asleep. And lucky to be alive.”

\---

Riko is small amidst the pillows he’s propped in, and it looks like the bed will swallow him whole. He’s unconscious, still, with raised bruises everywhere, more purple now than tan.

Abby told him that Riko hasn’t woken once since they brought him to her house.   Kevin doesn’t quite believe her. Because Riko’s wounds have been cleaned and patched and all the infection has been scrubbed out, and Kevin knows that Riko is a light sleeper. There’s a chance, though, and it’s likely, that Riko was drugged. It’d certainly explain his coma-like state. But drugs should’ve worn off by now. It’d been nearly forty-eight hours since they’d found him.

When Kevin asked Abby if Riko was going to wake up, half-hoping for a “no”, but still desperate for a “yes”, she gave him a pitying look. Kevin didn’t like it, but bore it in grim silence.

“He’ll wake up,” she said finally, “but I doubt he’s going to be very happy.”

“He’ll be wrecked, you mean,” Kevin replied, and Abby nodded, looking exhausted.

“There’s fresh wounds that have healed over, too.”

\---

Kevin could count Riko’s ribs. This wasn’t new—Riko struggled with eating the entire time Kevin had known him—but his ribs were more pronounced now than ever. And there were new scars. Burns, too.

 

When Riko woke, it was a subtle shift in his breathing. His breaths became shallower. His eyelashes fluttered. Riko made a soft noise, and then gasped, a harsh sound against the silence, and he was reeling back into the pillows as if someone had hit him.

Kevin stayed back, wary. Riko’s fists could fly if he was startled. But all Riko did was open his eyes and squint. Kevin was watching him close. Riko finally noticed him, and made a desperate choking sound. Kevin swallowed. He wanted to hit him. He wanted to hold him. He wanted to  _run_.

Riko was shaking with his eyes closed. His breathing was ragged and wrong and between the bruises he looked pale.

“Riko,” Kevin began, and then stopped. He didn’t know what to say. His anxiety was through the roof, so he reached down for his bottle.

Riko rasped something. Kevin frowned, but didn’t move closer. Riko said again, clearer, “Get out.”

Kevin blinked, slowly, and set the bottle down.

“GET OUT!” Riko was screaming now, furious, hoarse.

Kevin left, ignoring the ache in his throat. Abby looked up from her book. “He’s up,” Kevin said.

Abby gave him a far too understanding look and nodded. “I heard him.”

Kevin hesitated. “Will you be okay here? With him?” He glances back to the bedroom where Riko was in bed.

Abby smiled, tight and cold. “I’ll be fine. He won’t be able to get out of bed anyway.”

Kevin left.

\---

After Kevin left, Riko was reeling. Everything hurt. When he’d failed Ichirou had him beat worse than any time the Master touched him. Riko closed his eyes against the rising nausea.

Then he opened them in a panic.  _Where am I?!_

He wasn’t in their [he and kevin’s] shared room at the Nest. Riko’s breath got all wrong like Kevin’s did when he got really upset  _(don’t think about him_ ), and it felt like his heart was throbbing in his throat.  _I have to get out. I have to get out._

Riko pulled himself straighter so he could get up. The world spun, and he swallowed the bile rising in his throat. He closed his eyes and moved his leg.

\---

Kevin remembered the way Riko was when they were little and he’d just been woken up. It was one of those rare occasions that Kevin was awake before Riko—probably just because Riko’d crashed hard after watching the Raven’s game and Kevin had to rouse him from where he’d fallen asleep against the bus window. (it hadn’t taken much, either. A nudge on the shoulder and a whisper of, “Riko”)

Riko’d been slow, head lolling a little from exhaustion, sagging against Kevin. Unguarded. Kevin still didn’t miss the way Riko tensed when they passed the Master, though.

But that was over fast and Riko was still leaning heavy on him by the time they made it to the elevator. “We almost there?” he’d mumbled into Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin had raised his eyebrow.  _Riko’s kind of slow when he’s bone deep tired._

“Yeah. Riko, we’re at the Nest.” (even then Kevin could not bring himself to think of the Nest as  _home_. Home was for his mother, and she was dead. The Nest was just where he was staying on borrowed time and borrowed wings)

Riko grunted.

That time Kevin had to pull Riko’s shoes off his feet after Riko’d collapsed in bed.

It was the only time Kevin ever saw Riko sleep with his back facing anywhere but the wall.

\---

Abby startled at the meaty  _thump_  that came from her guest bedroom, and the angry shout that followed it. She raised her eyebrow.  _He’s certainly tenacious._

Standing, she tamped down on the irrational anger and protectiveness that pumped through her. Riko was responsible for a lot of the pain her Foxes felt in the past year—there was more that she  _knew_  the team hadn’t told her about—but most of all she knew the details surrounding Kevin’s departure from the Ravens. Abby sighed and tried to let the tension out of her shoulders.

_He may be responsible for hurting Kevin, but I am responsible for his life. As a medical professional I cannot break the oath* I swore to help him. And he is a victim of the Moriyamas as well, Kevin made that clear._

Abby knocked on the door to the guest bedroom, and the muffled cursing coming from the floor cut off. She took a steeling breath, and swung the door open with just a  _little_  too much force.

Riko was sitting on the floor cradling his leg with one arm and glaring at her with wide defiant eyes. His face was too pale under the bruises, she noted. Still recovering from blood loss.

“You should be in bed,” Abby says, knowing it will not make a difference.

Riko bared his teeth. “Who are you?” His voice is raspy and almost ruined.

Abby blinked, and sighed.

Riko narrowed his eyes, but the angry look is ruined by the pallor of his face and telltale shaking in his limbs.

“I’m a medic,” she said. Because it’s true.

Riko stared at her. “I don’t believe you,” he said, and it’s all Abby can do not to roll her eyes.

“I am what I am. Now get back in bed before you pass out on the floor.”

Riko’s the one who blinks, this time. “This is…another game, then? I thought Ichirou was tired of playing with me.”

Abby frowned.  _I do not want to know._  “Go back to bed. You’re delirious.”

Riko sighed heavily. “That’s why Kevin was here, right? He’s part of the game, too.” Riko’s face twisted into something undecipherable and added, “I didn’t think Kevin would do that.”

Abby took a cautious step forward.  _Kevin told me that he’s volatile, after all. And I don’t want to get hit for my trouble._

Riko glared at her, twitching backwards, still cradling his leg. “Don’t,” he said, “Don’t touch me.”

Abby put on her best strained-but-caring-nurse-smile and said, as gently as she could while looming over him, “Then get back in bed, Riko.”

To her surprise, Riko did. He winced and stumbled and even stifled a whimper, but he did it.

Abby is glad that she did not have to drag him bodily back into the bed.  _That would have been a nightmare._

“Now,” she said, once Riko is once more leaning on the pillows and watching her suspiciously, “you need to drink some water. Lots of water. And eat, too.”

Riko is still on the bed, glaring. He huffed and closed his eyes. “Tell Ichirou I do not like this game.” He turned over to sleep and Abby can’t help but feel snubbed.

_Damn it._

_\---_

Kevin felt nervous and sick all day. Nicky was busy shooting him looks like he was going to spontaneously combust—or vomit—and Neil was studiously pretending everything was ‘fine’. As usual, Andrew ignored him, and Aaron was too busy gossiping with Kaitlynn on the phone to pay attention to Kevin’s issues.

Unsurprisingly, it was Dan who approached him first, via Matt.

“Hey,” Matt said when Kevin opened the door to the monster’s shared room, “Dan wants a word with you.” His arms were crossed and he was leaning against the doorframe in an effort to stay relaxed but Kevin saw the worried look in his eyes.

 “If it’s not about Exy I don’t want to hear it.” Kevin was brusque, but facing his issues was definitely not something he wanted to do. Not now of all times.

Matt frowned. “She wants to know how you’re holding up.”

"I’m  _fine,_  thanks for asking.” Kevin challenged him with his eyes.

Matt only snorted. “Taking a leaf out of Josten’s book, are you? Well, if you need to talk, you know where Dan is. Though she’s gonna kick your ass for ignoring her.”

Kevin shrugged. “That’s my problem, not yours.”

Matt sighed. “Talk to Coach, at least.”

Kevin huffed. “It’s none of your business, fuck off.”

Matt held up his hands in defeat. “Fine, fine. I’m just tired of seeing you shitfaced all the time.”

Kevin glared and shut the door in his face.

 “Wow,” Aaron said from one of the beanbag chairs, phone in hand, “Damn, Kevin. You know she’s gonna make you run extra laps, right?”

 Kevin shrugged. “Fuck off.” He was not in the mood to indulge anyone today. Not with Riko so close—

“He’s right,” Nicky chimed in, “Matt, I mean—you need to talk to somebody, you’ve practically been jumping out of your skin all day.”

 _Ugh,_  Kevin thought,  _now they’re ganging up on me._

 Kevin grabbed his backpack and his Exy gear. “If anyone needs me, I’m gonna be down at the stadium.”

Nicky gave him a disappointed look, but didn’t comment.

Kevin practically bolted down the stairs.

\---

Wymack found Kevin at the stadium, practicing. He sat in his usual spot on one of the benches and watched Kevin do Raven drills until he was exhausted. By the time Kevin had started picking up the balls, an hour and a half had passed. According to Aaron, Kevin’d been down here all afternoon. Wymack frowned.  _He’s gonna be exhausted for practice tomorrow._

“Hey,” Wymack said as Kevin came through the gates, “I knew I’d find you here.”

Kevin was sweaty, and Wymack could see the telltale tremble of exhaustion in his legs.

“Sit,” Wymack said, nodding to the bench on his left. “We need to talk.”

Kevin looked uncomfortable, but did as he was told, leaning his racquet against the bench. “What is it, Coach?”

Wymack shook his head. “I’m not speaking as a Coach. Right now I need to talk to you about Riko.”

Kevin shifted and anxiously pinched at his arm.

_He does that when he’s nervous, I’ve noticed._

“I’m sorry, dad, but I don’t think I’m really ready to talk about it.”

Wymack nodded. “I understand, but there is something important I needed to tell you.”

Kevin looked down at the ground, for a moment, and then back to his father’s face, shoulders tense. “Okay.”

Wymack nodded, again, and uncrossed his arms. “I talked to Riko this morning.”

Kevin went still, but Wymack plowed onwards.

“He told me that he does not want to go to the police about this. Which is not unexpected, but that leaves us in limbo—we can’t exactly set him loose on the streets, but we can’t keep him at Abby’s house.” What Wymack didn’t mention, though, was how Riko’d been convinced that Ichirou was somehow involved. That he was being used in some sort of game. Wymack sighed.  _He was nearly delirious…_

Kevin blinked.

Wymack kept going. “As much as I’d like Riko to pay for what he did to you, and Seth, I’m going to have to contact the Moriyama family first and see what they want me to do with him.” Wymack did not like this, because despite himself, he’d seen the terror in Riko’s eyes when he spoke of Ichirou. And Wymack had always wanted to protect the kids that came under his care, even kids like Riko. There’d been plenty of the original Foxes with histories as bloody as his.

Kevin made a small, unhappy noise.

“But I want to make clear to you that you don’t have to do anything else with all this, okay? You did enough with finding him. And Riko is not your problem any more, understood?”

Kevin said, “Yes,” and Wymack watched his face closely.

“In fact, I’d like you to stay away from Riko. I want you to know that you don’t have to see him again. Ever. As an adult I’m going to make sure of it.”

Kevin nodded again, and then swallowed thickly. “I…,” he looked like he was going to say something, but then—“I’m gonna take a shower.”

Wymack pursed his lips. “If you need to talk—or, actually, when you’re ready to talk—you know where my office is.”

“Thanks, dad.” Kevin stood, collected his things, and left.

Wymack sat on the bench for a while longer, thinking. “Dammit,” he said.  _Riko’s appearance is a royal pain in the ass._

_\---_

In the shower, Kevin busied himself washing the dirt and sweat from himself. He was  _tired_. And conflicted.

On the one hand, he wanted Riko  _gone._  On the other, he craved their old closeness.

 _But,_ Kevin thought as he glanced at his hand,  _Riko ruined that himself._

Mouth set in a hard flat line, Kevin resolved to move on.

_Riko is not my problem any more._

_\---_

That night, for the first time, Kevin did not dream of his childhood.

This time, he dreamt of his future, and his freedom.

 

**Author's Note:**

> *Note that the Hippocratic Oath doesn’t just apply to specifically Riko, but rather states that as a medical professional Abby will “…remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm…” and “ will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure” and in general help all of those in need. Now, doctors can turn away patients from their clinics legally, but in general in case of emergency they are required by the oath to help – as depicted here.


End file.
